Friday, September 28, 2012

Batch #13 - ROI-L Honey Ale (All-grain)

Batch #13 is a Honey Ale produced with my Uncle Jim's raw South Carolina-harvested honey. This batch should be an easy-drinking and refreshing ale with a mild honey aftertaste. The sweetness of the honey and honey malt should be counterbalanced with classic Cascade hops which tend to impart a citrus and floral aroma but with a "clean" bitterness. The Falconer's Flight hops (in honor of my dad, a falconer & bee keeper too) should lend a distinct floral and citrus bouquet aroma to the finished beer.

Clean and sanitize all equipment that will come in
contact with your beer.

Prepare your strike water by heating approximately 8 quarts of water (8.125 to be exact) or 2 gallons (or approximately 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain) to a
temperature of 162-170 degrees (10-18 degrees above target temperature to
account for temp loss when added to grains).
Aim for 169 degrees.

Add all of of your strike water to the mash tun
to heat it up and begin adding your crushed grains. Stir thoroughly to avoid dry
pockets (dough balls).

Once the mixture is thoroughly combined check the
temperature to ensure it is approximately 152-154 degrees. If not, adjust by adding hot or cold
water.

Once your mash is at the proper temperature add pH
stabilizer, stir and close the mash tun and let steep for 60 minutes.

Prepare your sparge water by heating about 4.5 gallons of water
(typically 1/2 gallon of water per pound of grain but increasing since honey is being utilized and is not added until later) to a temperature of 170 degrees. Be careful not to go over this temperature as
tannins can be leached.

Optional - check for starch conversion by performing an
iodine test or simply taste the mixture.
If conversion has taken place the mixture will taste sweet.

Perform vorlauf by slowly collecting the first runnings
of your wort and adding them back to mash tun. Take care to not let grain bed collapse by
draining too quickly or dumping first runnings back in the mash tun with too
much force. Repeat this step 2-5 times
until the runnings are free of debris and running relatively clear.

Collect your first runnings into your brew pot by
allowing all of the wort in your mash tun to slowly drain out. Take your time and be careful to not let your
grain bed collapse.

After your mash tun has drained close the valve and add
all of your sparge water to the tun and stir.
Do not worry about disturbing the grain bed as you are going to create a
whole new grain bed for the second runnings.

Repeat Step 9 above (vorlauf) and collect enough wort
until you have about 6 gallons of beer.

Return your brew kettle to burner and bring wort to a vigorous
boil.

As soon as the beer begins to boil add 1 oz. of Cascade hops for bittering and boil for 60 minutes.

With 15 minutes left in the boil add Whirfloc tablet and
wort chiller (to sanitize).

With 2 minutes left in the boil add 1 oz. of Falconer's Flight hops.

During last 10 minutes of boil add 1/2 tsp. of yeast
nutrient dissolved in small amount of warm water.

Prepare priming sugar by boiling 2 cups of drinking water
and add 3.9 oz. of priming sugar. Be
careful not to scorch. Boil for 5
minutes and add to bottling bucket. Add
wort, stir gently for 1 minute and bottle.

Notes, Results and Lessons Learned:

Brew Day - September 29, 2012

Bottling Day - October 23, 2012 (24 days in Primary, no Secondary fermentation)

Notes:

Had to sub Citra hops for Falconer's Flight since my local homebrew supply store was out.

This beer (on bottling day) turned out exceptionally clear.

That is some clear beer!

The Verdict:

Time will tell... Taste test will occur the first part of November 2012. Stay tuned.

So tasting day has come and gone and while I had high hopes for this beer it didn't turn out quite as I hoped. It wasn't bad but just didn't have that honey taste I had hoped. The more I have read about ales utilizing honey the more I have learned how tough it is to keep the honey influence in tact. For the most part, the honey is treated like any other sugar during the process and consumed by the yeast for food. What is left behind is not always what we expect. In any case, it was yet another learning experience. The beer will not go to waste...